William s



(No Model.)

W. S. PROSSER.

FEEDING STRAW AS FUEL T0 FURNAGES. No. 279,012.

Patented June 5,1883.

' INVENTOR:

BY a

ATTORNEYS.

v N, PEIERS, Photo-Lithognphen Washington. u.c.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFI E.

IVILLIAM S. PROSSER, OF AUBURN, CALIFORNIA.

FEEDING STRAW AS FUEL TO FURNACES.

SPELZ'IFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 279,012, dated June5, 1883,

Application filed September 8,1882. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern Be'it known that I, WILLIAM S. PROSSER, ofAuburn, in the county of Placer and State of California, have inventedcertain new and useful Improvements in Feeding Straw as Fuel toFurnaces, of which the following is a full, clear, and exactdescription.

This invention is mainly designed to be ap plied to straw-burningtraction-engines such, for instance, as are used in conjunction withcombined headers and thrashers that are moved over the field and cut andthrash the grain at one operation.

The invention consists in adevice or apparatus for automatically feedingthe straw to the furnace of the engine, substantially as here inafterdescribed.

:Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming part ofthis specification, in which similar letters of reference indicatecorresponding parts in all the figures. w

Figure 1 represents a side elevation of an automatic straw-feedingdevice applied to the furnace end of a thrashing-engine in accord ancewith my invention. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal vertical section of saidstraw-feedingdevice in part, and Fig. 3 a transverse section thereof onthe line a: .r in Fig.

A in the accompanying drawings indicates along and narrow feed box ortube, made either of wood or metal, or both. Its length and dimensionsin cross-section will vary according to circumstances. It is open at itsopposite ends, and, when applied to a combined header and thrasher, itslower end will berun under the thrasher to catch the straw as it falls,said box being set inclining upward from its receiving end to itsdelivery end. Its upper or delivery end comiects with the fire-box orfurnace B of the traction-engine. Fitted to this box-say in and alongthe upper portion of. the same-is a bar or slide, 0; ortheremaybe anynumber of such bars. This bar has a reciprocating movement in directionof the length of the box A, and is so operated by motion derived fromthe engine"-as, for instance, by a belt, Z), a wrist-pin, c, on apulley, d, driven by the belt and a connecting-rod, e, or by any othersuitable devices.

Means should be provided for arresting the motion of the bar C withoutstopping the engine when it is not required to feed straw to thefurnace. This may be done by a belt slack ening and tightening deviceapplied the belt I); and to prevent the fire from following the straw inthe feed-box said box may have a flap or slide for closing its entrancewhen stopping the feed.

Pivoted to the bar 0 are a series of tines or forks, D, arranged toproject down within the box A, and having their drop motion c011-trolled by suitable stops and hung so as to admit of their operation,substantially as follows: lVhen the bar is moved downwardly or backthese tines D are pushed up or to one side by the pressure of the strawin the box, as shown by dotted lines in Fig. 2; but when the bar ismoved in an opposite direction said tines drop, or may be thrown out bysprings,

to catch in the straw and push it upalong toward the end of the feed-boxA, which is attached to the front of the furnace, and so supply thefire-box with the straw fuel.

The furnace may have a separate door arranged below the feed-box A forthe purpose of clearing the fire, or said box may be arranged to push onone side and leave an opening into the furnace, or both.

For ordinary straw-burning engines running a thrasher the feed-box A maybe provided near its one endwith a light rack, into which the straw isthrown; or the bar 0 may be made flexible or hinged, as at f, and thehinged rear continuation, of said bar, having a vertical movement, beprovided with teeth D, so that when laid on top of a straw pile it willdraw it into the box. The box A may also be pivoted or hinged so as toadmit of its swinging around and reaching all parts of the straw pile.

On the inside or bottom of the feed-box A may be arranged a series oftines or teeth, E,

between which the hinged tines I) work, and p which will assist inkeeping the straw from being drawn back when'the reciprocating bar (.3moves backward. The teeth B may, however, in some cases be dispensedwith. However, in fact, the details of this automatic straw-feeder maybe arranged, the application of a mechanical feeder to a thrashing andespecially to a traction engine, actuated by said engine, will be foundvery serviceable, and enable the engineer, with but a small amount oflabor, to dispense with the seivices of a fireman, while the straw willbe fed into the furnace in much IOO The combination, with thest1'a\'v-feed box A and one or more reci1: roc2ttingbars, 0, havingpivoted tines D, of a flexible rear continuation, G, of said bar,provided with teeth D, essentially as and for the purposes hereindescribed.

YVILLIAM S. PROSSER.

XVitn esses:

J AMES MACKEY, H. XV. HECTOR.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is-

